People are our world’s most under-utilized resource. All people can create value for others, but we have not had the economy that makes it happen. An innovation-for-jobs ecosystem of entrepreneurial startup companies can disrupt unemployment, introduce a people-centered economy where business is about increasing the value of people instead of merely lowering the costs of tasks. Entrepreneurs will earn by helping people earn better. They will use AI to make people more valuable, tailor jobs that leverage on their strengths, match them in teams that do excellently together, find them meaningful high-value tasks with good clients. The present dysfunctional labor market wastes human capacity by dismal matchmaking. Innovation can make people valuable again. The i4j Innovation for Jobs Leadership Forum is a community that has been discussing since 2013 how to make it happen. We will be presenting some ideas.

The forecast said 45 per cent of the fastest-growing companies, such as new startups, will have fewer employees than instances of smart machines, while pre-existing organisations with large amounts of legacy technologies will be slower to adapt.

Some possible examples included a fully automated supermarket or a security firm offering drone-only surveillance services.

The speed, cost savings, productivity improvements and scalability of smart technology for specific tasks can offer dramatic advantages over the recruiting, hiring, training and growth demands of human labour, said Gartner.

Some further examples include the forecasted 20 per cent of business content expected to be authored by machines.

Shareholder reports, legal documents, market reports, and whitepapers will all be candidates for automated writing tools as smart technologies develop the ability to proactively assemble and deliver information through automated composition engines.

In just three years, Gartner expects ‘robo-bosses’ will be supervising more than three million workers globally, rather than human managers. The report said supervisory duties have shifted to measuring worker performance directly tied to output and customer evaluation, which can be consumed more effectively by machines.

Gartner also predicted that by the end of 2018, customers interacting with digital channels will be recognised by face and voice as opposed to account details. Mimicking human conversations while factoring in history, tonand timing will be "the last mile" for multichannel customer services, creating "seamless, two-way engagement", said Gartner.

Meanwhile, 40 per cent of mobile interactions will be facilitated by smart agents, or virtual personal assistants (VPAs), by 2020. These technologies will monitor user behaviour data stored in cloud-hostedneural networksto draw inferences about people, content and contexts.

Online finance will be disrupted by the ‘programmable economy’ with the introduction of autonomous software agents that exist and make economic transfers free of human control. By 2020, Gartner said smart agents will participate in 5 per cent of all economic transactions.

The report painted a highly digital future with an algorithmic and smart machine-driven world where people and machines will need to define harmonious relationships.

"The Robo trend", the emerging practicality of artificial intelligence, and the fact that enterprises and consumers are now embracing the advancement of these technologies is driving change," said Daryl Plummer, Gartner VP and Fellow.

"[The predictions] begin to separate us from the mere notion of technology adoption and to draw us more deeply into issues surrounding what it means to be human in a digital world."

Gartner analyst Brian Prentice will discuss these and more predictions around the internet of things, smart buildings and the cloud at the firms’ Gartner Symposium/ITxpo on Tuesday October 27.

Barely a month goes by without news of yet another Aussie who has made it big in Silicon Valley: Fintech start-up Credible, Bitcoin wallet Snapcard, indoor locationing innovator Navisens to name but a few.

The phenomenon of Australia’s best minds leaving these shores for the US – the so-called ‘brain drain’ – is a cause of serious concern among the local tech community. It’s “completely and utterly a disaster” according to fintech chief Jost Stollmann of Tyro Payments. It's "an absolute crisis" said Freelancer.com CEO Matt Barrie in April.

“There is still… a massive talent drain issue that needs to be addressed,” says LinkedIn Australia’s MD Clifford Rosenberg. “Much of the world-class talent that we do create is migrating to other countries to seek better opportunities.”

At last count, 2,300 ICT workers left Australia for employment overseas. People with STEM degrees are also leaving Australia in significant numbers, according to LinkedIn figures.

Demand outweighs supply and the imbalance is growing every day. The gap is currently being filled by foreign workers, with around 22,000 arriving to work in ICT occupations in the 2014/15 financial year.

The government has acted to “get the skills that businesses need now” by setting aside $2 million in its Innovation Agenda to ‘refine visa settings’. But with more companies embarking on major digital transformations both here and overseas this may be a case of too little too late. And the rising living costs in tech hubs like Sydney put potential senior candidates off, says Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes.

“There is a lot of talk about the lack of tech talent in Australia, and quite rightly so,” says Suzanne Gerrard, director of IT recruitment agency Greythorn Australia. “As technology continues to infiltrate every business and sector, the need to have skilled staff to drive transformation projects as well as business as usual application of tech, continues to grow.”

But is the problem really as bad as some say? Has the ‘brain drain’ been overstated? Perhaps Aussies abandoning their homeland for Silicon Valley is a good thing for the country?

Aussie mafia

“I don't see it as a huge issue. If anything, it should be encouraged,” says Australian Andrew Roberts. “An active expat community helps Australia and Australian companies.”

Australian Andrew Roberts, CEO of Ephox

Andrew Roberts is CEO of Silicon Valley-based Ephox, who provide WYSIWYG editing and content creation SDKs. He moved from Brisbane to the US to be closer to the company’s biggest customers. With a competitor gaining market share he “felt we were missing out” by not being in the US, plus he adds: “like many young Australians, I wanted to live and work overseas for a while”.

Ephox’s success in Silicon Valley is positive for Australia, Roberts says: “My company has created dozens of high-paying tech jobs back in Australia as a result of me moving to Silicon Valley. We wouldn't be as successful as we were if we hadn't invested a lot of time and money into international markets."

Roberts is one of around 20,000 Australian expats – collectively known as the ‘Aussie mafia’ – living and working in the southern San Francisco Bay area. Some have been there for years, others come and go.

"They are some of the smartest people you will meet," says Roberts. "And Australians, in general, remain humble and easy to get along with even if they have had some success."

The sentiment is echoed by Australian Ernest Semerda, founder of productivity app GSDfasterand cofounder and CTO of Medlert, a logistics and communication platform for hospitals and ambulance providers, based in Silicon Valley.

"Even though today, a product can be engineered and distributed using online channels from any location in the world, I don't believe we should stop people moving overseas,” he says.

Read more: John Holley: Leadership lessons from the frontline

Aussie Ernest Semerda, CTO and co-founder of Medlert

The Sydneysider had always dreamed of working in the Valley, "the mecca of technology" and made the move in 2009. "I believe that if you want to get serious in your industry you need to be where the action is: Silicon Valley for technology, LA for the movie industry, New York for fashion and so on," he said.

If the hard work of building a business can be "expedited through an overseas startup community then we should encourage it," he says. "When the founders get to the growth phase, then make it fruitful for them to come back to Oz to grow their business locally."

Ripe for return?

When launching the Innovation Agenda in December, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: “We want to make sure we retain and gain the best human capital that we can.” There were a raft of measures aimed at creating an “innovation nation” that was an attractive place to do tech.

In April, Kelly O'Dwyer, then small business minister, was in New York speaking at a 'Down Under New York' event for Australians working in the city. "I don't think we should be concerned that people go over to the United States and New York and get experiences and learn new things,” she said, “as long as we create the right environment for them to return and they are not compelled to go as an only option."

But is Australia the ‘right environment’ for them?

If Australians that head for Silicon Valley end up returning, having grown their skills and experience, perhaps with capital and drive to set-up or expand businesses locally, it can only be a good thing for the nation.

With a shortage of capital investment, sky-high living costs, lack of STEM grads, an increasingly boring main city and pedestrian internet speeds - it’s a big if.

What do you think? take part in the conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia, Twitter: @CIO_Australia or Facebook: CIO Australia.

Amit Choudhury of the Business Times spent time interviewing Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO of how he plans to lead Microsoft in the 21st Century......

How does one re-energise a massive behemoth like Microsoft, turnover of US$90b, with 100k employees, that has achieved the BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) of having a windows PC on almost every PC in the world, with continual Windows licence fees!

This industry does not respect tradition and what you have achieved in the past, says Satya

it respects Innovation

it respects Disruption

Having licenced software on PCs does not cut the mustard anymore..... its now about "Mobile First and Cloud First" and "the Internet of Things". Your phone will be just like a remote control for your TV - except it will control everything!!

How can Microsoft not be swallowed or taken over by the likes of Google, Facebook and Twitter?

It is clear that their needs to change.... massive change!!

Microsoft has made some pretty bold moves to still be relevant in this century...

the $7.9b acquisition of Nokia - a bit of a flop, with Microsoft writing off most of the investment,

and now the $26b acquisition of LinkedIn - which I believe will enable them to keep their dominance in the marketplace.

LinkedIn can be the conduit to transform Microsoft's products such as contacts, calendars and CRM on the phone and in the cloud, providing an integrated tool set to the social community where their users will continue use their products every day!

Microsoft can still be seen as a platform that everyone uses.

Sataya believes that for Microsoft to be successful and be a major player in the 4th Industrial Revoluton - where collaboration will be king, the Microsoft community need to nail "the 2 book-ends of success":

1. To be crystal clear on what the purpose of Microsoft is, and

2. To have a great culture, that will inspire and enthuse its team to achieve more. What habits, behaviours and attitudes do we want to have to enable us to be the leaders in the 4th Industrial Revolution?

1. What is Microsoft's why? What is Microsoft's Mission?

After more than 25 years at Microsoft, Satya Nadella is CHRYSTAL CLEAR ....

"Microsoft is about enabling and empowering every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more. We are about being a platform."

2. What is Microsofts Culture? What habits, behaviours and attitudes do we want

This is not so easy. Curating the Microsoft culture, whilst swallowing massive companies like LinkedIn and Nokia, with their own cultures, as well as having offices in every country on the planet.

How do we cross the Culture divide?

A key factor is to have a base value of honesty, and a thought process of:

"learn it all vs know it all".

So two key drivers to nurture Microsoft's culture will be Education and Collaboration.

Satya Nadella does not see what technology or product that will be used as his key role.....

says Satya:

"My role at Microsoft is to constantly evangelise and remind ourselves of our Mission, and curate our culture. This is more important than all the technology and strategy choices that one needs to make. I need to find the time and energy of thinking of these two book-ends of success."

Friday, July 22, 2016

We are suggesting “20 Percent Time”, one day in the school week whenstudents can work on a project of their choice, like the Google 20 Percent Time which gave rise to one of the most creative companies on the planet.

Main Reason

For more than twenty years, we have been trying to change education through the use of digital tools and to tie education to the job market. In fact, we have had little success. Our test scores are stagnant and we have millions of unfilled jobs because people don’t have the required skills. Technology has not proven to be the silver bullet we had hoped for.

We continue to focus on teaching to the test to rectify the situation. Even the new federal policy of Every Child Succeeds Act focuses on testing but this has not provided us with the kind of workers we need. We see the same focus in the UK, and the same poor outcomes.

The main difference between the classroom today and the classroom of 20 years ago is that the worksheets are now online and there may be an accompanying video, but it is still lecture based. Today the lectures are online….see the Flipped Classroom pedagogy. Research shows that people do not learn from lecture. They learn about the idea but they do not learn the skill. Learning takes place from peer to peer interaction and from doing. Employers are looking for people with tech skills, critical thinking skills, communication skills, and innovation skills. Students don’t get these skills through memorization or lecture. They get them through hands on authentic projects based on the real world.

Policy Sought and Rationale

We are proposing to change the way we, citizens of the world, see the school week. We are proposing that the Secretary of Education, the Future Ready School program, the U.S. Congress and the Parliament in the UK suggest one day per week or 20 percent of the time when students can work on projects of their choice and apply the learning they get in the other 80% of the school week. Instead of having five days of lecture and worksheets, have four days.

Each state, district, and school should decide independently what application of 20% time works best for them. Community members need to know that learning takes place by doing. This may not need to be a requirement. It is simply understanding what works in education and what learning really is. More than 100 years ago, education philosopher John Dewey said people learn by doing; it is time we followed this pedagogy. In order to do so, teachers and school districts just need to have the permission to change the way they see learning. They need to have permisson to change the way the classroom is structured….for just a small percentage of time to give students some exposure to authentic real world projects. A program like this would give students time to use computers and digital tools in the learning process instead of just in the memorization process or the testing process.

Memorization is not learning; it is just memorization. It is not thinking. The OECD ranking by country shows both the US and the UK in the top four countries for memorisation in school, but relatively low for elaboration - deep learning and critical thinking.

We are suggesting 20 Percent Time...like the Google 20 Percent Time which gave rise to one of the most creative companies on the planet. Even if employees don’t participate, just knowing that they could participate, gives them a psychological sense of empowerment.

In their 20 PercentTime, students can work on a project of their choice supported by the school and the teachers. This teaches student the skills employers are seeking: communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. Students can design apps, work on gardening, develop a new toy, build a new website, game design, write blogs, set up a workshop, do a group art project….or anything that they are interested in (within reason, of course). Teachers still have 80% of the time to teach in the traditional manner but now students have 20% of the time to work on projects they care about related to the real world. It needs to be in the school day and not after school because many low income students do not have time after school. They too need to have this opportunity to be creative and be engaged in their learning.

Having a project increases engagement, increases learning, and increases creative thinking and provides the kind of worker that the we need today. We need education for the real world, education that connects to problems that we face as a planet. The 20 Percent idea would build this kind of education into the curriculum and ensure that all students have this opportunity to create.

Studies show that AP exams do not produce the kind of learning that transfers to the real world and does not have a positive impact on college performance. However making learning engaging and social improves attainment scores and subsequent performance.

Role of the School and Government

The school can help provide the structure and resources for the 20 Percent Time. They can provide a platform where teachers and students share ideas. They can support teachers creativity. This is vital because today teachers are very concerned with test scores and teaching to the test and covering all the material for the year. In many cases, less is more learning.

Teachers need permission to be creative one day per week and this creativity will be passed on to their students. The program will need teacher professional development to restore professional confidence in how to coach learning through creativity. It is a simple idea that can easily scale so that we can produce workers that employers want to hire and employees who can help solve issues facing the planet.

The people were /are like you and me - and went on to change the world

Place matters - and the creation of an epicentre of innovation is a very strategic move for any city wanting to be a thought leader!

SYDNEY - take note - eur 4b being invested in Poland to build a startup hub!

Countries cities and companies are all living and dying by their ability to attract retain and maintain their talent.

Recognising and Unleashing Human Capital

Human capital is the worlds most wasted resource - we have not even begun to utilise the power of our minds and collective potential

Humans have limitless potential - how do we unleash it?

What is the process and systems to make this happen?

Is it creation of tribes / groups/ masterminds?

Is it about creating collaboration mechanisms?

Is it about Sharing stories and Ideas ?

The gap of what we do to what we could do - has and can continue to be enhanced dramatically by innovation and technology.

Human capital

invest in it

nurture it

encourage it

There are many rough diamonds - due to circumstance or mindset - they may never be able to achieve what hey could!

How do we develop the ecosystem to nurture this untapped talent of human potential? How can we do this using infrastructure that has already been built, and just needs to be deployed?

Can Councils in regional towns play a vital role in igniting innovation in their area?

enabling collaboration between big business and start-ups

connecting unemployes to startups and educational institutions

providing cheap rent for incubators

providing a Crowdsourcing facility so residents can invest in their towns startups (maybe with government backed security based on specific criteria

The formal education system is broken -

It was created to feed the processes of the Industrial Age - it was designed as a conveyer belt to create and prepare humans to do stuff on an assembly line - to act like a machine - to learn processes that can be done by machines.

Maths - we learned slide rule - Soh Cah toa, logic.

We don't need to learn how an engine works to drive a car!

The current education system needs to change -

There needs to be more focus on communication, soft skills, using machines, collaborating and community

- Educating is what people do to you

- Learning is what you do to yourself

People need to become lifelong learners

The information explosion

We are seeing a Bite Bang - an information explosion

Knowledge is a commodity accessible by everyone.... dont spend time on privacy - it doesnt exist... become anonymous by being a part of the grid!

We are in Information overload - the world is doubling in info every 3 years vs every 100 years and by 2020 - doubling info every 3 months

What we learn at school and university becomes redundant - quickly!!

- we need to learn to be lifelong learners

- we need to learn to collaborate.

Collaboration is the number 1 currency

Our ability to tap into our collective wisdom will take us to that next level!

Over the past centuries, we have been great a creating silos - manifesting in different countries and borders - this needs to change - it's about unconditional collaboration.

We need to create an Ecosystem where sharing knowledge is power .

Changing from

Knowledge is power - We were driven by individualism

to

sharing knowledge is power - We need to be driven by community

It matters where you are located

How can we create that talent hub!!!

- That place that draws talent

- That creates innovation

- That feeds off each other

- That collaborates

Together we can build this collective potential opportunity - to change lives for the better

This video and thought process reminds me of The Goal - by Eli Goldratt - the theory of constraints - which shows that we are only as strong as our weakest link

As a community - let's build up our weakest link - so we all can surge from strength to strength

I am really excited about bulding www.bbg.business - building these communities feels right!!

"Innovation is a lot more than inner-city hipsters who try to build the next great app while drinking soy lattes at trendy warehouses" writes Tony Featherstone

Many Regional Australian towns are in distress - and there is an urgent need to develop new industries or invigorate old ones as the new economy unfolds.

Their needs to be an innovation focus on regional entrepreneurship, local government collaboration and small business, and Turnbulls appointment of the new Federal Minister for Small Business, Michael McCormack is genius !

A Small Business Minister with country connections! My view is that he should also take on the portfolio of innovation, AusTrade and AusIndustry - they all go hand in hand!

The Innovation agenda should be used as a tool to address today's problems:

- job losses in manufacturing and mining,

- high youth unemployment

and

- stagnating regional economies, for example.

Innovation is a process to bring groups together, encourage collaboration and creativity, and link emerging enterprises with established industries.

Let's balance the capital-city version of innovation with policy that:

Helps develop vibrant regional entrepreneurship ecosystems that create thriving clusters of new and established business activity in country areas

Presents innovation as a process to help regional economies transition from the decline in manufacturing and other traditional industries, to higher-growth sectors

Creates the option of self-employment for young people in regional areas who cannot find full-time work

Reverses the brain drain as bright young 20-somethings are forced to move to capital cities to start ventures or work for others

Makes regional areas great places to live AND work, creating social inclusion for young people and more harmonious communities

Has real benefits for capital cities. Creating vibrant regional innovation hubs could encourage urban entrepreneurs to move to areas that are close to capital cities. That would help de-centralise population growth away from capital cities, as regional businesses grow and create jobs

Helps develop a stronger national entrepreneurship ecosystem by giving start-ups that are struggling with scarce resources greater options to work in lower-cost regional areas.

How can we do this using existing infrastructure?

We should take a leaf out of the massively successful Uber - ( listened to a great talk at an Amcham lunch yesterday) (thanks Niels) .

How can we utilise existing assets and existing infrastructure to ignite innovation in regional Australia?

Australia has already built a massive infrastructure built around Councils.

How can Councils spark the drive for communities to build on their strengths (which is invariably there people) and actively support innovation and entrepreneurship

Councils in Ipswich, the Sunshine Coast, the northern suburbs of Adelaide and north Queensland, to name a few, understand innovation's potential to invigorate their economies and have done some cool things , such as

- implementing smart-city technologies, planning and processes;

- launching co-working spaces for start-ups; and

- creating entrepreneurship ecosystems.

Other councils should follow their lead and federal and state governments can help by framing a co-ordinated agenda – and funding – for regional innovation and entrepreneurship.

Imagine

Imagine having a goal for your local town to be an innovation hotspot that is linked to your capital-city entrepreneurship ecosystem and university, rage or learning institution!

- Imagine if your local town had a simple, low-cost co-working spaces for start-up ventures - supported by mentors, existing businesses and greys, aligning them with educational institutions and VET providers -

(How many government owned buildings/ spaces are unlet or underutilised? The infrastructure is there !!)

- Imagine if your local Council had a Crowdfunding Council platform where residents fund local ventures with funding to start-ups in their area and perhaps take equity in some.

- Imagine if those loans would be Government Gauranteed if it was supported by an accreditted mentor. (they do this in USA.)

The real opportunity is linking bright young regional start-ups with established businesses

How can councils create collisions of innovation between the new and old that drive entrepreneurship?

There's never been a better time.

A focus on a co-ordinated regional innovation is good policy AND politics.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

How car-sharing is already helping cities with their transit issues

There's a promising fix for any city with transportation issues -- and car ownership has nothing to do with it.

A new study found that cities that turn to a flexible type of car-sharing stand to benefit from less pollution, less traffic and more parking.

Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley's Transportation Sustainability Research Center focused on the impact of car2go, which is different from car services like Zipcar and GM's(GM) Maven. With car2go, drivers paying a one-time $35 membership fee and can rent a vehicle parked on a nearby public street and leave it elsewhere in the city. There's no need to reserve a vehicle ahead of time, or return it to a designated parking lot. Car2go strikes deals with local governments so that its cars can be parked in public spots.

Sunday, July 10, 2016

new technology and robotics is not a death knell for workers but it is a clarion call for re-training and continuing education. Innovation creates efficiency and new products/services and concomitant new work. There will always be a cohort that has trouble making the transition and we need safety nets for that.

I just returned from Switzerland where I got to be part of history --- very much related to this thread's topics. The Swiss Postal Service's PostAuto inaugurated the world's first autonomous public transportation service in the city of Sion, Switzerland. It was a great honor and treat for me to be invited to this special event, and to get to ride this remarkable vehicle. This project represents the culmination of great vision, committed leadership and extraordinary collaboration among a wide range of interests and capabilities (the Post, the City of Sion, EPFL, politicians, regulators, start-ups). Truly inspiring! Check out the video: https://www.bluewin.ch/de/news/wirtschaft---boerse/2016/6/23/in-sitten-rollen-ab-sofort-autonome-busse-durch-di.html Yep, that's me sitting on the thingat 0:10 to 0:16.

As part of a strategic blueprinting session in 2013 with PostAuto (the largest bus service in Switzerland) I had offered the following provocative mock-up to stimulate considerations about potential participation in the autonomous mobility space. They decided to go for it, and came up with what's shown on bottom. It's coming fast now --- in fact, it's already here!

Whitehouse Simine Leiro is speaking to i4j member Robin Chase on Automation and is calling for questions to be answered

Summary:

Wondering how driverless cars or chatbot lawyers will change the ways we work and live? Join us for a LIVE White House Conversation on automation.

You’ve seen photos of self-driving cars zooming down California highways and read about lawyers that are actually chatbots. These are some of our first encounters with automation and artificial intelligence (AI). And if you’re wondering how these types of technology will change the ways we work and live, you’re not alone.

There's no shortage of predictions. Depending on who's talking, it will be the source of tremendous opportunity or a challenge to even our most basic institutions. In any event, it's no longer just the stuff of science fiction. Our growing reliance on automation implies some big public policy questions. Some that we're already grappling with, and others we'll need to tackle in the coming years.

On Tuesday, July 5, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough will host a conversation with Robin Chase, transportation entrepreneur and author, and Martin Ford, author and futurist, to help shed some light on these issues. They’ll discuss and debate the nuanced aspects of automation, from what it means for jobs to laws to how we spend our days.